Technical Information

Person

*/d_person 1000504

Name

Yoshizawa Ayame IV

Notes

Character types: female roles (onnagata). Group affiliations: Tachibanaya. Yoshizawa Ayame IV was initially a student of Yamashita Matataro I and trained in Keihan. He took the name Yamashita Ichigoro. He then became a student of Yoshizawa Ayame II and took the name Yoshizawa Goroichi, playing iroko (young male) roles. In 1745 he went to Edo and played young female roles. Subsequently, he went back to Osaka and changed his name to Yoshizawa Mandai (1753) but the following year, when Yoshizawa Ayame II died, he changed his name back to Yoshizawa Goroichi. In 1764 he changed his name to Yoshizawa Sakinosuke III and in 1778 he changed his name to Yoshizawa Ayame IV after Yoshizawa Ayame III died in 1774. He excelled in sewamono dramas and was at his best in wife roles.